Location sharing apps for families
Family location apps differ on more than just the map - driving safety, notification transparency, and platform support all vary a lot.
Families tend to want more than a dot on a map: driving reports, crash detection, and school-hours scheduling all come up. The three options below take different approaches - one bundles family-safety extras, two are simpler and already built into phones people own.
What to weigh beyond the map
Life360 is the most feature-complete for family safety specifically - automatic crash detection and driving reports are built in, on top of location sharing. Find My and Google Maps are simpler and already installed on most phones, which matters if you don’t want to ask family members to download something new. None of the three notify you when your location is viewed; that transparency is what glancy adds regardless of which of these a family is coming from.
| Feature | glancy | Life360 | Find My | Google Maps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notifies on view | Yes | No | No | No |
| Access log | Yes | No | No | No |
| iOS ↔ Android | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Approximate location | Yes | Partial* | Partial* | No |
| Time-limited sharing | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled sharing | Yes | No | No | No |
| Pause sharing | Yes | Yes | Partial* | Partial* |
| Mutual connection required | Yes | Yes | Yes | not stated |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
* see sources below
Sources
Life360
Find My
Google Maps
